The second round of Tehran Game Convention is slated for July 5-6. On the sidelines of the event, a competition dubbed “Gamistan Awards” is planned, featuring 90 video games from eight countries, namely Iran, India, Pakistan, Armenia, Turkey, Bahrain, Egypt and Azerbaijan.
TGC, which is one of the biggest business-to-business conventions for video game industry in the Middle East and North Africa region, has introduced “Gamistan Awards” as a competition among 33 countries in which a total population of two billion resides, 40% of which play games on a daily basis, Iran Computer and Video Games Foundation reported.
“Gamistan” is made up of two parts: “game”, and “stan” (a suffix used in Persian and Hindu-European languages for location) and is used to refer to a great geographical area of the video games industry, according to the event’s official website.
The main objective of Gamistan Awards is to create opportunities for developers seeking publishers or investors. Therefore, previously released games with satisfactory results in the market are not allowed in the competition.
According to event’s organizers, 90 video games have been submitted to enroll in the Gamistan Awards consisting of 14 foreign titles and 76 local ones. Of the total number, 65 are mobile games and the remaining 25 have been developed for PC.
The jury members of the Gamistan Awards, comprising international publishers and distributors, have also been named and are currently working together to select the best games among the nominees.
Rami Ismail, co-founder of Vlambeer, and Phil Elliott, project leader to Square Enix Collective, are among the presiding members of the jury.
Shortlist of Nominees
In initial assessments, 51 mobile games and 16 PC games (67 altogether) have been approved by the jury for further evaluation.
Finalists of the awards are to be announced by June 5 on TGC website. The winners of the competition will be named on July 6 at the event’s closing ceremony.
Moreover, nominees will be granted discounts to attend the Game Connection event, free tickets and booth space in Gamistan Awards 2018, alongside the unique opportunity to be noticed by distinguished international publishers.
It merits mentions that students participating in groups will get a 50% discount as well.
TGC is a joint project by Iran Computer and Video Games Foundation and the French-American Game Connection.
